Programme

AcknowledgementsThis ambitious production is the result of many organisations and people working together. Major funding came from the European Union via ECOPAS (European Consortium of Pacific Studies), coordinated by Professor Edvard Hviding of Bergen University in Norway. These funds are administered by PACE, headed by Professor Elisabeth Holland, at the University of the South Pacific. The Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies, particularly the Oceania Dance Theatre and Pasifika Voices, is the creative force behind this production. Support was also forthcoming from the Vice Chancellor and the senior management team of USP, the Acting Director of the Oceania Centre, its faculty and staff, the faculty and staff of PACE, and many others at USP. Support from various organisations in the community (see their logos in the programme) is also much appreciated. This production would not be possible without the support of so many people and organisations, too numerous to mention by name – vinaka vakalevu!

Message from the ECOPAS Coordinator

In the ECOPAS project, European and Pacific institutions of research and higher education share common ground (seen, Pasifika style, as both land and sea) in a quest to restore the human to global debates about climate change and its effects. In funding the work of ECOPAS for the period 2012-2015, the European Union has granted us the privilege of developing fresh understandings of these challenging times for the Pacific, founded in new forms of interaction and engagement of the social sciences and humanities with the arts and wisdom of Oceania and with global climate science. It is in the performative arts that we meet the most immediate, most powerful expressions of how Pacific ways of life are threatened by rising seas, dying reefs, and extreme weather, and Moana: The Rising of the Sea is destined to become a fountain of inspiration from which new initiatives of scholarship, activism, policy, education and culture will flow. The ECOPAS agenda that we share realizes its fullest potential for creating understandings at the crossroads between the local and the global precisely as the drama of Moana unfolds and reminds us of what it means to be human. I wish to express my profound gratitude to the ECOPAS Creative Team Vilsoni Hereniko, Peter Rockford Espiritu, Igelese Ete, and Allan Alo, and to the dancers and singers and everyone else involved in giving us the enduring gift of the Moana performance.

Professor Edvard Hviding, University of Bergen, NorwayECOPAS Coordinator

Message from the Executive Producer and Writer

The Deep, Beautiful but Dangerous Sea.For anyone who has lived or lives on an island surrounded by the deep, beautiful, but dangerous sea, the thought that one day your island will be submerged under water and everyone and everything on it will disappear is a possibility too cruel to contemplate. And yet, this is happening in several islands in Oceania already, with more Islanders contemplating their imminent demise and what that would mean to them as a people, a culture, even a nation. How does it feel to be forced by the rising sea to abandon everything you hold dear and flee to another country to live among strangers? If you had to choose, would you go, or would you stay? “I would rather die here. Without this piece of land that defines who I am, I am nothing.” Is that what you would say? And if you should choose to flee, how will you fare? Can you live with the knowledge that you have abandoned the “bones of your ancestors”?

This elaborate and ambitious Oceanian music-dance-drama is a collaborative creation born out of a desire to use the performing arts of the Pacific to bring attention to the most pressing issue for many small Pacific Island nations. Maybe there is a way out of what appears to be an inevitable outcome. Maybe the solution to our survival lies in western science marrying indigenous knowledge. Maybe, like a double-hulled canoe, western science and indigenous knowledge will safely navigate us out of these dangerous waters? This is the hope in Moana: The Rising of the Sea.

Vilsoni Hereniko

CAST & CREW

Executive Producer/ Original Story Vilsoni Hereniko

Director/ ChoreographerPeter Rockford Espiritu

Musical Director/ Original Songs/ MusicIgelese Ete

Original Lyrics/ Cultural ConsultantAllan Alo

Sound Scope, Design, Dance TracksDave Lavaki

Poem “Tell Them.”Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Original Lyrics & Music - Marawa Dances, Tree Aria, Together We’re StrongerPeter Rockford Espiritu

Lighting DesignPeter Rockford Espiritu

Head Lighting TechnicianSaimone Ben Fong

Projection DesignJosefa Matailagi Jnr

Follow Spot/ ProjectorPoasa Vakuruivalu

DancersOceania Dance Theatre Tulevu Tora (Assistant)Pelu FatiakiGlenville LordEtu TagivakatiniBenji PatelKim RovaPeni DucivakiOsea DaulacaIlaitia Lomalagi.Tavo KennedySinu NaulumatuaKatalina FotofiliNisi BolaDrue SlatterLitia RogoDeepa Punja

Pasifika Voices EnsembleAssistant Musical DirectorRatu Eroni Dina Soprano:Paulini Bautani Vilisi Nuqa Ani Lewaniu Maraia Nasilivata Lusiana Bale Ulita Diyalani

Altos:Vula Galisaya Ren Georgia Slatter

Tenor:Peter Waqavonovono Jolame Cagi Ratu Eroni Dina

Bass:James Edward Naivalurua Roland Christian Mccaig

Lighting CrewPoasa VakuruivaluTaniela TuirabeDave LavakiEroni Cakacaka

Costume DesignsFumaru Fatiaki

DressersRavu NayacalevuLasaruasa KomaivunivesiSelai WainiqoloFinau BatiratuSiteri Taka

Stage ManagerBenitera Koroijuita

Stage CrewsPita CokanasigaDan TuirambeBen ApenisaEroni CakacakaEroni CagiGlen Naivalu

Assistant Stage ManagerPita Cokanasiga

Back Stage TeamJosefa MatailagiApenisa TuiseseEroni CagiJimmy HendricksTyrone BucknellFront House Peci Buinimasi

Ushers/SecuritySimaima BloomfieldSera RovaRoger NayacalevuJohn Vakaloloma

Tickets/AdministrationSeraseini Colata Jesoni Naga

Publicity and Marketing Dave Lavaki & Ann Tarte

Poster, Ticket and Programme DesignJoseph Hing

Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies

Dr. Akanisi Kedrayate, DEAN of FALEDr. Frank Thomas Senior Lecturer, Acting Co Director

Tuilagi Igelese Ete, Head of Performing ArtsPeter Rockford Espiritu Artistic Director, Acting Co Director

Tuilagi Seiuli Allan Alo Va’ai, Pacific Outreach Coordinator – PolynesiaDr. Lea Lani Kauvaka Lecturer, Chair Postgrad

Jonathan Griffiths Managing Editor for USP PressJacki Leota-Ete, Assistant Lecturer

Johanna Beasley, Visual Arts CoordinatorDave Lavaki, Music Coordinator

Ann Tarte, Marketing CoordinatorRosarine Rafai, Teaching Assistant

Waisale Ramoce, Teaching AssistantLalita Sharma, Teaching Assistant

Toetu Tuia, Teaching AssistantVilimaina Navila, Teaching Assistant

Narsamma Lingam, Teaching AssistantSangita Lal, Teaching Assistant

Wame Tabilai, Part-time TAShaiza Janif, Graduate Assistant

Jesoni Naga, Programme AssistantSera Colata Secretary

Ben Fong, Technical AssistantSilika Diradaraba, Cleaner

Meretui Ratunabuabua, Pac. Heritage Hub ManagerMary Rokonadravu, Communication Specialist - Pac Heritage Hub

Vilma Ratumudu, Proj Asst Pac Heritage HubLia Korodrau, Proj Asst Pac Heritage Hub

Vilsoni Hereniko

Vilsoni Hereniko is originally from Rotuma but has made Honolulu his home since 1991. He is a Professor at the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawaii. He is an author, scholar, playwright, screenwriter, and director of plays and films. He is also a former Director of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaii and the Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture, and Pacific Studies (OCACPS) at USP. He is an adjunct faculty member of the OCACPS.

Peter Rockford Espiritu

Peter Rockford Espiritu was trained as a dancer at the School of American Ballet in New York City. He has danced, performed and choreographed throughout the world and has been commissioned to create for companies like Disney, Sun Mirco-Systems, HYUNDAI Global, and featured in Forbes, Dance Magazine, and the New York Times.

Mr. Espiritu is the founder, Artistic Director, and primary choreographer of Tau Dance Theater (TDT), Hawaii’s critically acclaimed professional modern dance company of 18 years. It is a non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization that reflects the multi-culturalism of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim.

As Artistic Director at the Oceania Centre for Arts Culture and Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji, Mr. Espiritu implemented dance techniques and applied dance curriculum, teaching classes in Classical Ballet, Modern/Contemporary, and Hula. In the second year, the addition of aerial dance has brought the company into a level that no one else in the country or region has gone. Mr. Espiritu made his Directorial debut with the premiere production of VAKA: The Birth of a Seer followed by DRUA: The Wave of Fire, LIFE: a dance concert, and the smashing success of Men Dancing.

Igelese EteIgelese is the Head of Performing Arts at the Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies at the University of the Pacific.

He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in sec schools teaching, a Bachelor of Music in Performance Singing & a Masters of Music with honours in composition from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Igelese has extensive conducting, composing, and teaching experience and was the New Zealand Choirmaster for Peter Jackson’s acclaimed film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. He was awarded the prestigious Creative New Zealand Senior Pacific Artist Award for his contribution to the promotion and performance of Pacific music in New Zealand and the Pacific in 2009.

He is in demand as a vocal, choral clinician, conductor & composer and has been commissioned to compose and arrange musical works for numerous organizations and events around the world. He was earlier in the year invited to ‘Hollywood’ to complete another movie score, for a stylized documentary called Na Na’ia The Legends of the Dolphins starring A-list actors Gerald Butler, Whoopi Goldberg, Megan Fox, Owen Wilson, Kate Winslett amongst many others.

Igelese is passionate about Pacific creative and performing arts and its ability to inspire, empower, educate, and uplift.

Allan Alo

President of the newly formed Samoa Arts Council (SAC), Allan is currently USP’s Pacific Outreach Coordinator for Polynesia (POPP), looking at Arts Education and Arts development in Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Samoa and based at the USP Alafua Campus, Samoa. He was the former Artistic Director and creator of the “Oceania Dance Theatre” for the University of the South Pacific’s Oceania Centre for Arts Culture and Pacific Studies (USP-OCACPS) working in dance, and multi-disciplines for 13 years. A graduate of USP, Allan continues his work using the Performing Arts and multi-disciplines to inspire and encourage young people to remember and embrace their rich Pacific cultures given the social pressures brought in by Globalization, new technology and modernization in today’s Pacific.

Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner is poet, writer, and journalist born in the Marshall Islands and raised in Hawaii. Her poetry is a blend of storytelling and activism, and she has performed in London, San Francisco, Oakland, LA, Hawai’i, and the Marshall Islands. She is currently a University of Hawaii graduate student in the Pacific Islands Studies programme, where she is researching traditional Marshallese chants and storytelling.

Oceania Dance Theatre

The “Oceania Dance Theatre” (ODT) was created by Allan Alo who led the group for 13 years. Peter Rockford Espiritu succeeded him two years ago. Today, the company consists of 15 dancers whose training focuses on technique, Pilates’-based mat work, terminology, flexibility, and cross genre’ dance styles. ODT also uses multi-cultural fusion that is reflective of the rich ethnic mix prevalent in Fiji. An emphasis is given to culture and tradition as a strong foundation to build upon. Entertainment is also an important element in ODT’s varied and large repertoire.

ODT has performed in China, Japan, Tonga, New Caledonia, the United States and the Solomon Islands. Highlights for this year include Men Dancing, Fiji’s 100th Anniversary Rugby match half time show, ASCO Motors RAV 4 & Yaris car launches, La Fete’ Musique at the SOFITEL, Fiji Fashion week, and a feature article in PHOTOGRAPHER Magazine Australia for VAKA: The Birth of a Seer.

The Pasifika Voices Choir

The Pasifika Voices is an auditioned youth choir comprising of multi-regional and inter-faith based youths who strive to impact their audiences through the use of culture.

This is done through the vehicle of Music and Dance, where appropriate messages of Unity, Peace, Regionalism and Cultural Pride are woven into the fabric of contemporary art, music and traditional dance. Positive messages as well as real cultural values are also woven into each song or dance.

There are 40 dedicated young people who are part of the Pasifika Voices Choir. A further 12 members make up the Artists in Residency Program of Pasifika Voices Ensemble based at the University of the South Pacific.

The Choir was formally known as the Malaga Singers, founded and directed by Igelese Ete. .

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